Find out where the tech revolution began on Oct. 1

If you are intrigued by the stories behind the people and companies that kick-started the tech revolution in Silicon Valley, you will be interested in the program Silicon Valley Roots & Shoots: Exploring Where it all Began, a lecture and slide show scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 1 at 11:oo am in the Menlo Park City Council Chambers, 701 Laurel Street. The program, sponsored by the Menlo Park Library, is free and open to all.

David Laws will discuss his iPhone/iPad travel guide app that was released in late 2010. “Silicon Valley Roots & Shoots” is an insider’s travel guide/phone application developed by Laws that visits the sites where entrepreneurs, engineers and scientists created ideas and technology that changed the world. Key attractions include:

Stanford Campus and the development of motion pictures

The first “mobile” phone call in Palo Alto in 1908

The Hewlett Packard Garage and why Lucille Packard’s roast beef never tasted the same again

The founding of Stanford Industrial Park and how it changed academia/industry cooperation

Menlo Park’s SRI, the invention of the mouse, the Internet, and much more

William Shockley and the defection of the “Traitorous Eight”

Development of the first practical computer chips at Fairchild Semiconductor and the culture of entrepreneurial spin-offs The Homebrew Computer Club and and the personal computer revolution

The humble birthplace of the world’s most valuable tech company (Apple)

Each location has many photos, concise descriptions, maps and links to additional information.

David Laws was born and educated in the United Kingdom where he earned a B.Sc. in Physics. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1968, working for various Silicon Valley semiconductor companies, including Fairchild Semiconductor, Advanced Micro Devices and Altera Corporation, for more than 30 years in roles from Product Marketing Engineer to CEO. His current interests include travel writing, photography, and the history of semiconductor technology. He is curator for semiconductor aspects of the exhibit Revolution: The First 2000 Years of Computing at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View.

Free wheelchair accessible van service is available for Menlo Park seniors and people with disabilities. Call 330-2512 for van reservations.